Kenya’s ICT CS Downplays Severity Of Hacked Gov’t Websites
Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communication, and the Digital Economy, William Kabogo, has informed the public that no government data was exposed after Monday’s alleged hack of multiple State websites.
Kabogo called the incident a “simple Zero-Day attack” that just sent domain names to hackers.
The CS spoke in Baku, Azerbaijan, while attending the International Telecommunication Union’s World Telecommunications Development Conference.
The CS stated that his ministry has subsequently taken control of the situation and guaranteed that the majority of the websites affected by the breach resume normal operations.
On Monday, a number of government portals, including those of major ministries, displayed defaced pages, raising concerns about the integrity of state systems at a time when Kenya is promoting greater digital usage in public services.
AfricasNow identified the affected ministries as the Ministry of Interior, Health, Education, Environment, Energy, Labor, and Water.
The only encryptions visible were: “Access denied by PCP“, “We will rise again“, “White power worldwide“, and “14:88 Heil Hitler“.
CS Kabogo’s guarantee came hours after Internal Security and National Administration Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo acknowledged that restoration operations were underway, warning that those responsible for the breach would “face the full force of the law.”
He noted that State agencies were collaborating to trace the source of the attack and seal vulnerabilities within the system.
“The situation has since been contained, and the systems are under continuous monitoring,” said PS Omollo on Monday evening.
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“Our focus is on building layered defences, improving readiness, and ensuring that any attempt is detected early, contained quickly, neutralized decisively, and its impact minimized.”
The Interior PS further rebuked the hacking incident, saying it is in violation of Kenyan law and applicable international conventions.
This includes the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, the Kenya Information and Communications Act, and the Data Protection Act.
“Individuals found culpable will face the full force of the law,” PS Omollo warned.
Kenya’s ICT CS Downplays Severity Of Hacked Gov’t Websites
